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We send infrequent, relevant updates about our latest progress and research.
President
Dr. Michael Goodman completed a Masters and Doctorate in Public Health at the University of Texas, School of Public Health in 2014.
His dissertation evaluated multiple outcomes associated with participation in an orphan empowerment program in Kenya. His research interests focus on increasing research to inform community-based interventions improving livelihoods, food and nutrition, sexual risk, WASH-sector activities, school completion and literacy, and mental health outcomes of orphans and vulnerable children in sub-Saharan Africa.
He is a co-founder and board member of the Houston Global Health Collaborative. He has been a board member of Logos Communities since 2008. He completed a Masters of Divinity at Emory University in Atlanta, GA, and understands his professional efforts as an application of Christ’s call to form the world such that it is a welcoming home for all of God’s children.
He has worked previously as a director of student ministry at the University of Texas Medical Branch and continues to mentor students there. The greatest joys in his life are his wife, Lauren Raimer-Goodman, and his two children, Lilly and Jude.
Board Chair
Aaron Godoy is a technology professional committed to serving communities in need locally and abroad. Aaron was born and raised in Houston, Texas, and received a Bachelor of Science from the University of Texas at Austin where he studied clinical and community nutrition. He is currently a principal consultant at Yes&, a nonprofit and public health technology consulting firm.
Aaron is deeply interested in solutions that address the pervasive inequity in the developing world as a form of answering Christ’s call to charity and love towards others.
Clark MCK Academy Advisor
Ed Clark was born and raised in Shelbyville, Tennessee. He received a Civil Engineering degree from Vanderbilt University and an MBA from the University of Houston. He worked as a design engineer for Exxon in Houston prior to moving to Memphis, where he had a 28-year career at FedEx before retiring in 2009.
At FedEx Express, Clark served in several roles in Finance and Operations, including Vice President – Finance, Asia-Pacific (based in Hong Kong); Vice-President – Corporate Financial Planning; and Sr Vice-President, Operations Support and Engineering. For the final 10 years of his career, he served as President and CEO of FedEx Trade Networks, a subsidiary which performs customs clearance, international freight forwarding, and trade consulting services.
Clark serves on the Board and as Missions Committee chair at Germantown United Methodist Church; serves on the Board and is the past chair of the Vanderbilt Engineering School Board of Visitors; and serves on the Board and is Treasurer of Habitat for Humanity of Greater Memphis.
He and wife Sue just celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary and have 3 children and 3 grandchildren.
Chaplain
Matt Walton serves as Minister for Discipleship at South Main Baptist Church in Houston, Texas. Matt attended East Texas Baptist University, where he received a B.A. in Speech Communications. As well, Matt attended Baylor’s George W. Truett Theological Seminary where he earned a Master of Divinity and a Doctor of Ministry, concentrating on discipleship strategies and life-long conversion in the transition from adolescence into early adulthood. Matt has served in Texas Baptist churches for twenty years. Prior to joining the South Main staff Matt served for eleven years at Southland Baptist Church in San Angelo, Texas as Associate Pastor of Missions and Spiritual Formation.
Additionally, Matt has a heart for connecting the church to God’s mission around the globe. Matt currently serves as the chaplain for SODZO, and serves on the board for Water for All International (WFA). WFA seeks to empower poor, rural families to solve basic food, water, and income problems with their own resources, celebrate life, and share God’s goodness through the good news of Jesus.
Matt loves helping others discover how their stories are caught up into the grand narrative of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He also loves hiking or riding bikes with his wife and two children, reading, and Chicago Cubs baseball.
Member
Krystol Wheeler is the director of strategic initiatives for the Texas Methodist Foundation (TMF), a role she began this year after spending 12 years as director of communications for Heartspring Methodist Foundation. She has a BA in Psychology and an MA in Organizational Communication from the University of Houston.
In 2016 she became certified as a Lean Six Sigma Green Belt. Krystol has been a member of the marketing committee for Communities in Schools – Houston for 8 years, and recently joined the Sodzo board with plans to serve in a communications role.
Treasurer
Matt DuBroc is a native Houstonian with a Business Administration degree from Sam Houston State University.
Matt has worked in the homebuilding industry for 21 years as a Business Systems Analyst focused on developing and implementing efficient, cost-effective solutions specific to purchasing.
Growing up without a father, Matt is passionate about investing in kids, and enjoys teaching elementary Sunday School at his church, South Main Baptist.
When he’s not perfecting budgets and developing spreadsheets, he enjoys spending time with his wife, two sons, and spoiled goldendoodle.
Member
Christy Sylvester is the Executive Director of Casa el Buen Samaritano, a free medical and dental clinic serving patients from over 110 zip codes in the Greater Houston area. Casa’s mission is to share the love of Jesus while providing whole-person healthcare —body, soul, and spirit—to the low-income and uninsured in our community.
Christy graduated from Texas A&M University with a B.A. in Management. She spent over 26 years working at AIM Management/Invesco, a Global Asset Management Company. She began in client services and eventually moved into the sales division. When she left Invesco, she managed a team of 14 people responsible for Invesco’s key retail relationships.
Christy is also very involved in missions through West University Baptist Church in Houston. She leads teams to Kenya once a year. She currently serves on the Missions Committee and Women’s Ministry Committee and teaches in her Bible Study class.
Member
Ethan is Lecturer of Mathematics at Rice University in Houston. He received his Bachelor of Arts from Baylor University in Waco, where he studied math and philosophy, and his PhD in math from Rice. He likes experimenting with and thinking about the role community plays in the learning process, both in teaching mathematics and in teaching adult Sunday School at his church, South Main Baptist. He enjoys playing board games with his wife, Emily, and observing the antics of their two cats.
Member
Russell Buehrle resides in The Woodlands, Texas with his wife and two children. He earned a Bachelors of Business Administration from Texas A&M University and a Juris Doctor from Baylor University School of Law. He is a licensed attorney in the State of Texas with over 18 years of experience working as in-house counsel for various oil and gas companies. Russell is currently the General Counsel and Corporate Secretary for GEP Haynesville II, LLC and Counsel for GeoSouthern Energy Corporation. He has a broad range of experience covering acquisitions and divestitures, corporate governance, litigation management, service agreements, land transactions, landowner agreements, contracts related to software, data and other proprietary information, insurance, and service on the 401k committee.
Russell gained an appreciation for service as a young Boy Scout and eventually earned the rank Eagle Scout. As an adult, Russell has served on the Personnel and Operations committees at South Main Baptist Church in Houston, Texas and the Risk Management Committee at Wilshire Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas. Russell’s children attended Trinity Episcopal Day School (“TEDS”) in The Woodlands, Texas and he was honored to serve as Chairman of the Governance Committee and Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors for TEDS during his tenure on the board. Russell is currently a member of South Main Baptist Church where he enjoys playing the trombone as part of the South Main Brass.
Program Coordinator
Kelli Hays grew up in a small town in East Texas but has called Houston home for the last 16 years. She has a Master’s of Public Health from the University of Texas Health Science Center, specializing in Health Promotion and Behavioral Sciences with a certificate in Maternal Child Health. She also holds a Bachelor of Arts in Christian Counseling from East Texas Baptist University.
Kelli’s experience includes working as a graduate research assistant at UTHSC, collaborating with NGOs in Kenya and professors to research the triple threat of HIV, gender-based violence and teen pregnancy in east Africa, as well as exploring alternative rites of passage to combat harmful FGM practices among the Maasai culture. She also played a role in establishing a medical clinic in rural Narok County, Kenya and has an ongoing relationship with the clinic. Her passion for public health began during her first trip to Kenya in 2017, and she is grateful to be able to combine her education and passion by working with Sodzo.
Kelli has been married to Ben for 22 years and they have six children, ranging in age from 5 to 19. She is involved at West University Baptist Church in Houston, where her husband serves as campus pastor.
Member
Past Chair
Member
Courtney Cox Smith
Programs Officer
Research Officer/Board Secretary Sarah completed a Doctorate of Public Health at the University of Texas School of Public Health in 2016. She is dedicated to public health as social justice work. She was a Jesuit Volunteer and Catholic Worker working with homeless populations on the streets of Orange County, California; an Adult Education teacher in Austin, Texas; a Research Analyst in the Office of the Medical Director at the Austin Public Health; and most recently led COVID-19 Data Dissemination and Research in the Center for Health Statistics at the Texas Department of State Health Services. Her dissertation research explored community perceptions surrounding why children leave home for the streets and attitudes towards fostering and adoption of street-involved children and youth, as well as the adverse childhood experiences and health outcomes of youth currently living on the streets of Meru County, Kenya. Since 2014 she has supported Sodzo International in the capacity of research officer, providing oversight for research and evaluation of Sodzo Kenya's programs. She enjoys gardening, reading, and spending as much time outside as possible with her two children and her husband Graham.
We send infrequent, relevant updates about our latest progress and research.